Bill Clinton to Barack Obama's Transition Team: 'I'll Step Aside'
Mark Impomeni
Contributor
Posted:
12/1/08
Former President Bill Clinton has agreed to sweeping restrictions on his personal activities to clear the way for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) to become Secretary of State in the incoming Obama Administration. The rules that the former president agreed to are unprecedented. It is not every day that the powerful Senator wife of a high-profile ex-president gets the nod to be America's chief diplomat; and even rarer that the ex-president in question is as adoring of the spotlight as Bill Clinton.The rules seem designed as much to keep an arm's length between Mr. Clinton and the inner workings of the State Department as they are to help insure that Mrs. Clinton has a smooth confirmation. Reportedly, the former president agreed to:
-disclose the names of every contributor to his foundation since its inception in 1997 and all contributors going forward.
-refuse donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual charitable conference.
-cease holding Clinton Global Initiative meetings overseas.
-volunteer to step away from day-to-day management of the foundation while his wife is Secretary of State.
-submit his speaking schedule to review by the State Department and White House counsel.
-submit any new sources of income to a similar ethical review.
Those are tight restrictions for a man who used to be the most powerful man in the world, and who has become something of a jet-setting international goodwill ambassador in his post-presidency.
During the presidential campaign, Bill Clinton assumed the role of attack-dog for Mrs. Clinton's losing campaign. He complained that the Obama campaign was, "playing the race card on me," in reaction to a comment Clinton made about Obama's primary victory in South Carolina. Mr. Clinton compared Obama's victory to Jesse Jackson's 1988 primary win in the state. Obama said that Clinton, "dissed," his primary win and hinted that there was more behind the remark. The two men had other testy exchanges during the primary, however, once the nomination was secured for Obama, Mr. Clinton softened his stance. He delivered a well-received endorsement of Obama at the Democratic National Convention, and held a one-on-one session with the nominee at his Harlem office after which he pledged to work to get Obama elected.
But questions about Mr. Clinton's commitment to see Obama's presidency become a successful one remain. Clinton and his administration operatives have been very jealous about guarding the Clinton legacy, such as it is, in the years since he left the White House. Mr. Clinton may not feel that a Democratic president succeeding in areas in which he did not would be the best thing for remembrances of his time in office. That fear is evident in the length to which the Obama transition team went to try and control what Clinton says and does in its rules for the former president. Clinton, however, has demonstrated that he is anything but controllable. A politico as experienced and driven as Mr. Clinton will almost certainly find a way to leave his personal stamp on he State Department his wife leads, whatever rules the Obama Administration tries to enforce.
Those are tight restrictions for a man who used to be the most powerful man in the world, and who has become something of a jet-setting international goodwill ambassador in his post-presidency.
During the presidential campaign, Bill Clinton assumed the role of attack-dog for Mrs. Clinton's losing campaign. He complained that the Obama campaign was, "playing the race card on me," in reaction to a comment Clinton made about Obama's primary victory in South Carolina. Mr. Clinton compared Obama's victory to Jesse Jackson's 1988 primary win in the state. Obama said that Clinton, "dissed," his primary win and hinted that there was more behind the remark. The two men had other testy exchanges during the primary, however, once the nomination was secured for Obama, Mr. Clinton softened his stance. He delivered a well-received endorsement of Obama at the Democratic National Convention, and held a one-on-one session with the nominee at his Harlem office after which he pledged to work to get Obama elected.
But questions about Mr. Clinton's commitment to see Obama's presidency become a successful one remain. Clinton and his administration operatives have been very jealous about guarding the Clinton legacy, such as it is, in the years since he left the White House. Mr. Clinton may not feel that a Democratic president succeeding in areas in which he did not would be the best thing for remembrances of his time in office. That fear is evident in the length to which the Obama transition team went to try and control what Clinton says and does in its rules for the former president. Clinton, however, has demonstrated that he is anything but controllable. A politico as experienced and driven as Mr. Clinton will almost certainly find a way to leave his personal stamp on he State Department his wife leads, whatever rules the Obama Administration tries to enforce.